We have to keep Obama's back.

Sure he might not be hitting every not on every issue or taking the tactics we would like to see. But I see his intentions, he wants to raise the level of debate and that will never happen by getting in the mud with Republicans all the time. If we get in the mud things will always be in the mud, the grit and sweat is still with the people. We can overcome their tactics by being smarter than them. Even President Clinton stated he could of been more of the President folks wanted him to be, had the people come out in front of him. It's always as Obama said' 'we are the ones we've been waiting for' we have to take the benefits of health reform to the streets, sell the public option and don't be dampened down by Republican nonsense. We can all be our own Barney Franks. Our only potential for any change with the system as it is, is a Democratic President there simply is no abandoning the president (going by approval figures) but correcting and modifying the congress to push President Obama in the direction we'd most like. It's democracy which amounts to people rule and however crazy Republicans are there at least has to be the impression Barack did listen to both sides, even if the other side is crazy they were elected and he has to be seen he led them too or at very best tried to. If there's any real fight to be done it's mostly with the people if they want it enough and more than the other side.

enough it appears to me. So everyday it's put on the boxing gloves and go.

The President has said this throughout his campaign. Change comes best from the bottom. On health care we are letting the knuckle dragging troglodytes out hustle us. The wing nut on the right are willing to work harder to make America fail than we are willing to work to make her flourish.

It happened in 1994, its happening again. BUT I feel change in the wind. Barney Frank bitch slapped the "lies and the lying liars that tell them." the President is firing back. We need to make our voice heard.

mike kohr

...its something we haven't had in a long time. He has the right intentions and he wants to accomplish them. But he isn't a king or a dictator and he isn't the type to try and use the Presidency in a manner that would make him something like a king or a dictator. We need to appreciate the fact that we have a great person serving as President and stop criticizing him for not being something he can't be, a politician with the powers of a god.

can intelligently say otherwise. He's done more in these short 8 months than any president in my memory. We don't have to agree with him on every decision. We're Democratics (at least some of us are), but he is the President of EVERYONE and he's going to make decisions that he believes are best for the entire country, not just the Democratic party. He ain't Bush. Country before party.

:patriot:

He will need our support then. Right now, he's in no danger of being impeached and we accomplish nothing by "supporting" him. Right now we need to watch him carefully, hound him, criticize him when he is wrong, remind him who he serves, and otherwise be a pain in his rump ...

We give him cover to do the right thing if he can show he is being attacked from the left.

If he then actually does the right thing, he might get us all back a foot soldiers in 2012. If he doesn't ...

:dem:

-Laelth

...

I would rather Obama "lose" than to have Congress pass, and Obama sign, a bill that does more harm than good. This isn't football. Legislation has real effects on real people. I will not root for the "team" if I think the team is hurting America.

:dem:

-Laelth

You really don't understand how Washington works.

A President with a high approval rating has the political capital to spend to make things like public option pass.

A President with a poor approval rating does not.



The "bully pulpit" only works if the President has an army of supporters who have his back and can pressure congress critters.

How in the heck would Obama get anything done if half the people who voted for him just decided...eh, lets not support the guy because he is just not everything we wanted. That is like letting the GOP back in to control the entire rest of his Presidency. You want anything done in Washington you have to support the guy. You CAN criticize at times but at the end of the day still have his back.

He is doing this to advance health care reform. I happen to think he deserves some support for THAT. Good God, he could just stay in the WH and not face those idiot extremists. But no. He has been out there facing actual danger.

I think he deserves NOT to be attacked constantly from all sides, especially when one side is showing up with GUNS.

Are you suggesting showing up with guns to defend him? Aren't you worried that could dangerously escalate an already tense situation?

If that's not the kind of "support" you're talking about, please explain, because I am having a hard time imagining what kind of "support" from us will do him (or us) any good at the moment.

It's not like he's in danger of losing his job. He doesn't need campaign cash. What kind of "support" are we talking about here?

Moral support? Good vibes? He doesn't need that from me. He will benefit a lot more from our criticism, imho.

:dem:

-Laelth

I feel sorry for you.

Seriously. What kind of "support" are you talking about? I do not understand.

:shrug:

:dem:

-Laelth

...of winning the Health Care PR battle.



Do you think the President can pass a health care bill like the one you want if his approval rating is in the tank?

Every time a Democrat answers a poll saying they don't approve of the President there is the very real effect of lowering Obama's political capital... which comes from the perception that the people are with him.

If the perception is that the people are against him, he'll get NOTHING done in congress.


The "mandate"... the "bully pulpit".... comes from having a strong approval rating.


Every time a Democratic-leaning person bashes him, they cut into his political capital.

In one I warned my congressperson not to buckle under pressure from the White House. I will not "support" Obama when I think he's wrong.

This is not a sport, as I said above. I will not root for the "team" when I think the team is hurting America. I could care less about Obama's political capital. I care greatly with how he wields power and how what he does affects my country.

So far, btw, I think he has done a pretty good job, with only a few exceptions that I will not list here, but I will not just tell my representatives to rubber-stamp anything the Administration proposes. If that's "support," then support is for persons who are far more lock-step in their thinking than I could ever be (or would wish to be).

:dem:

-Laelth

I'm not going to turn my back on him because things are tough right now.

equal rights according to the President. Ironic indeed. Also pathetic.

LOL! Just kidding.

a progressive. He lied to us during the election. I do NOT like to be lied to, especially when I gave money and time to support those lies!!!!!!!!!!!! I will give my money to others during the 2012 election and I will work for progressives.

So far, all I've seen is an increase in military activity, a third of the stimulus wasted on tax cuts in a foolhardy effort to be "bipartisan", an abandonment of the GLBT community, creeping privatization of the educational field, oh, and a distinct willingness to drop the public option so that he can score some sort of political "victory" on healthcare, consequences to the rest of us be damned.

Time I started seeing some of that "real change" that was promised.

:dem:

-Laelth

You got that right!!!

during the campaign for President but he and his Team have made a lot of changes..some are faster than others and some are a work in progress.

I have his back especially when the lies start flying from all over the place. So many think they need to lie to get what they want.

Nobody on the far right would ever consider abandoning Bush. And there WERE righties who thought Bush "too liberal." There were those who voted for mcCrook and would have supported him forever when they claimed he was too liberal.

This is why they win so much more than their numbers justify. They would never be throwing McCrook under the bus like this.

but EVERYTHING I see is lecturing the LEFT on how WE must give up EVERYTHING to "go along" - well, I for one, am SICK AND TIRED OF ALL THIS ONE SIDED "compromising"!!!

Instead we should focus our ire on those spineless turncoat 'Democrats' in Congress who are, in effect, stabbing Obama in the back on health care reform.

He's squandering any support I ever had for him...FAST!

He'd better START supporting the things I want instead of fawning over REPUKES and VICHY DEMS for a CHANGE!!!

So far all I see is him capitulating to EVERYTHING the IDIOT CONSERVATIVE RIGHT WING wants...and he can kiss MY support bye UNTIL he ACTIVELY seeks things I want...

don't like it - BITE ME...

But not if Obama is out there saying it's "just one sliver" of healthcare reform, and Whitehouse advisers are telling the media that they don't get why the left is so obsessed with this public option idea.

We must keep our voices heard, at all costs. Our voices have to loud enough to drown out opposition.

Loud voices will remind our President that The Ones We've Been Waiting For will not wait any longer.

I've got his back but I have some very basic issues that I'd like to see addressed (yes, some would call them PONIES!) and the only way to do that is to push HIS back.